Hamlet Act II.2

     Throughout the play so far, there has been evidence of Hamlet's madness as well as evidence of his saneness. The reader obviously knows that Hamlet is not insane but is rather trying to act crazy in front of everyone around him so that they will just stay away from him and dismiss him along with his feelings and thoughts. However, of the times that it seems that Hamlet truly is insane is when he is talking to Polonius in the hallway when Claudius and Gertrude are trying to spy on Hamlet and see if he is crazy. Hamlet seems to be acting very strangley towards Polonius calling him a "fishmonger"(II.2.174), and saying what seems to be nonsense to Polonius (II.2.172-223). An example of Hamlet's saneness is when his two friends Rosengrantz and Guildenstern come and visit him to see if he is still feeling melancholy because of the death of his father. Hamlet seems perfectly normal and actually admits to his two friends that he is "but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (II.2.387-388). Meaning that he is sometimes mad and sometimes he is perfectly sane. Hamlet seems to do a very good job at presenting himself as someone who truly is mad in the fact that he is mad only sometimes and then is sane the rest of the times. Again, the reader truly knows what Hamlet's motives are and one knows that Hamlet is not crazy, but rather is full vengeance for his uncle is focused on how to kill him and he is constantly thinking about that. He seems to many people including Polonius, the King and Queen (his Uncle and Mother), Laertes, Ophelia, etc. to be very deranged and psychotic. However, the reader knows the truth and they know that Hamlet is indeed not crazy.